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There are few professions that are truly able to challenge conventions and shape our world in quite the same way that Architecture does. A big part of this is how architects use the technologies available to them – often pushing the boundaries in new and exciting ways.

Click through for our top Architecture highlights from the Ponoko blog.

#10 A Treasure Trove of Modern DesignWe’ll start off with something that’s not actually an architectural construction, but comes from the mind of an inspirational architect. Many of the products around us are in fact designed by architects, and the interaction between these objects and the built environment plays a critical role in achieving successful design outcomes.
The depth of this collection by Andreas Fuhrimann is quite remarkable and is a pleasure to browse through.

One of the great things about objects with holes in them, is that you can see through to the other side. When clever architects and designers take this simple physical reality and put their own twist on it, the results can often be quite striking.

Italian civil engineer and UCLA trained architect Elena Manferdini is the founder of multidisciplinary design studio Atelier Manferdini. The stunning portfolio explores the creative potential of laser-cutting in the fields of architecture, fashion, and product design. The array of work is not only visually arresting, but indicative of intelligence and mastery of form, texture, and pattern.

Laser cutting and CNC goes large in Spain where the challenge of building the cheapest solar home in the world has been tackled head-on by the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia and MIT’s Center for Bits and Atoms.This 75 m2 house is designed around the needs of a family of four, and thanks to clever use of both CNC milled and laser cut wood for the main structural components it is possible to assemble the entire house in only fifteen days.

French Architect Paul Coudamy turned his sustainable design eye to a new office space for Beartech in Paris.
In communicating the concept, the recycled timber layout was modeled in CAD. Just imagine the pitch (and the clients’ faces) when Paul suggested adhering scraps of wood to the walls and ceilings. Brave clients and confident designers lead to interesting results…

To catch the eye, steer the gaze, and focus attention. That is the idea behind this exhibition stand designed and built by architecture students at the University of Stuttgart’s Institute for Lightweight Structures and Conceptual Design (ILEK).
Panels are oriented towards specific angles so that only a portion of the area behind the wall is revealed to the viewer. Each of the items on display receives its own focal point.

Generator.x is a curatorial platform exploring the use of generative strategies and software processes in digital art, architecture and design. It focuses on a new generation of artists and designers who embrace code as a way of producing new forms of creative expression.

The Center for Rapid Automated Fabrication Technologies (CRAFT) aims to develop the science and engineering needed for rapid automated fabrication of objects. And they don’t mean any old objects – these guys are pursuing sizes up to mega-scale structures such as boats, industrial objects, public art and even entire buildings.

No architecture firm is complete without a model maker. That patient person who precisely cuts out all the little doors and windows and walls from card, basswood and acrylic and then painstakingly assembles them. So much accuracy is required to make sure all the pieces fit.
Laser cutting can make this process so much easier; and working with Ponoko from his Boston residence, Daithi Blair does just that.

Joshua Demonte’s 3D printed jewelery creates a fantasy land for those with an adventurous architectural soul.

My work has replaced the traditional embellishments of jewelry objects with the details of traditional architectural form. The objects have become jewelry that defines architectural space around the body, altering our perception of the figure.